June 9th - The Kitchen

"A confused mind cannot direct deft hands 

and what is more confusing than a 

cluttered, disorderly place to work?

What is more uninviting, too?

The grateful appearance of order...

And every efficient housekeeper knows 

that in no room does it count for more 

than in the kitchen."

-Woman's Home Companion, 

August 1924

 

Start Quote

Let me be the first to confess from the heart

that I have not yet found the way to turn cleaning kitchens 

into a simple pleasure...

The Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet, and writer 

Thich Nhat Hanh...

suggests we approach washing the dishes as if it were 

the most important thing in life. 

We are to consider each dirty bowl as sacred. 

I have not gotten to that point of transcendence, 

but I try my best to approach washing the dishes as if it were 

the most important thing I could be doing at that moment. 

Much of our daily round takes place in the kitchen.

Cooking and cleaning can be contemplative pursuits 

but not if you're surrounding by clutter. 

Still, I dreaded getting in there.

I procrastinated for months...

But the Amazing Grace of the Simple Abundance process prevailed.

With the other rooms in my house slowly becoming organized, 

the state of the kitchen didn't just irritate me, 

it drove me stark raving mad...

Finally I faced the truth: 

if this room were truly the heart of my home, 

it was no wonder I was experiencing palpitations 

every time I went in there to work...

When you organize your kitchen, 

regardless of its size,

keep in mind that there are 

several different kitchen activities 

that take place there: 

the preparation, cooking, and serving of food, 

clearing up after the meal, and dishwashing... 

The next time you're searching for the kitchen scissors, 

cleaning out the refrigerator, or scouring a greasy casserole dish, 

remember that the Sacred can be found in the ordinary 

when we seek it. 

I can't promise you that it works every time, 

but if it works even once, 

it's worth engraving on your heart.

End Quote

Robbie and I have a deal...

I cook, and he does the dishes. 

The kids get into the tupperware drawer all the time, 

so it's never organized...but that is life with little kids. 

Robbie is also a little ocd...

he'd never let me have anything truly disorganized. 

If I opened a drawer and stuff fell out because it was so cluttered, 

he would go stark raving mad. 

Kitchen's aren't as easy to revamp as every other room in the house.

You've got all of those appliances, 

dishwasher, oven, stove, microwave, sink, faucet, disposal, refrigerator...

super expensive.

And then you've got the countertops, cabinets, backslashes...

I want to paint some of the cabinets white, 

taking some of them out to have open shelves,

put in a new backsplash...

Here are some pictures for ideas.

 

But until you have the couple hundred dollars 

it would take to redo the kitchen, 

what you can do is organize and de-clutter.

That way, when you go into your kitchen to work,

which is at least three times a day if not more,

you don't feel like you're going 

stark raving mad.

***

Gratitude Journal

***

1) Family. Our family has been through a lot this past year, but I'm so grateful that we can still be a family.

2) Playdates. And magical backyards. And cousins.

3) Date night with Robbie. Movie and popcorn. 

4) A date set up with one of my best girlfriends...girl time is so essential.

5) The cool days coming, what a relief from the heat.